1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a cutting board wherein a pair of opposed posts are attached near an edge of a top cutting surface and include facing closed slots therein. A retaining bar is located in the slots in the opposed posts and a compression spring provides a downward bias to the retaining bar in a manner which enables the retaining bar to move vertically with respect to the cutting surface.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
The world is experiencing an increasing aging population and a growing number of people living with a physical disability or illness, affecting their ability to maintain their independence in their own home. The everyday task of preparing meals is often made more difficult by a person's inability to use a standard kitchen knife, when preparing food in the domestic kitchen. Their disability or ailment may mean they have insufficient ability or strength to grip and hold a kitchen knife effectively to chop or slice food items.
Cutting boards for use in cutting various types of foodstuffs are well known, as are several types of knives to be used in combination with such boards. A preferred type of knife for such use is one with a sturdy blade commonly referred to as a “chef's knife”.
Variations on the theme of the combination of the cutting board and knife are also known, as are levered apparatus useful in cutting different types of food. The following patents disclose different forms of levered cutting devices:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,221
U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,642
U.S. Pat. No. 6,546,685
U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,221 issued Jun. 13 1978, discloses a cutting board attachment for use with a conventional kitchen knife. The attachment includes a fulcrum support member adapted for use in an upright disposition with respect to a cutting board. A means is provided for mounting the support member so as to be stationary with respect to the cutting board.
A means is provided on the support member for providing a plurality of slots, acting as fulcrums at different elevations for receiving the tip of a knife, and for contact with the upper edge of the cutting blade adjacent the tip end so that the cutting blade can be used as a lever, pivotable downwardly about the fulcrums, for cutting objects such as frozen food on the cutting board.
The user is restricted to an area adjacent the front of the selected slot, limiting the available work area of the cutting surface. If the knife is rotated to far from the perpendicular when the knife tip is engaged in the slot, there is an increased chance of the knife tip binding or potentially breaking off in the slot.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,642 issued Mar. 14 1989, discloses a kitchen guillotine in which a chopping board is provided with a pivotable sleeve device in which a kitchen knife may be inserted, so that a chopping action can be achieved by moving the knife handle up and down.
Once the tip of a knife engages the pivotable device it eliminates the ability for the knife to be used in a slicing action and limits its function to a chopping action only.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,685 issued May 20 2003 discloses a cutting board and leveraged knife apparatus which facilitates cutting of a variety of objects. The cutting board includes a vertically oriented support member extending therefrom, with a plurality of fulcrums positioned at intervals upwardly from the cutting board. The apparatus includes a knife, having in its blade approximate its tip, means for removeably engaging a convenient one of the fulcrums. When an item to be cut is placed on the cutting board adjacent the support member, and the knife engages with a convenient fulcrum, cutting of the item is enhanced and facilitated through the lever action of the knife and fulcrum.
A user is limited to using the area of the cutting surface immediately adjacent the vertical orientated support member. If a user employs one of the fulcrum and the knife is rotated too far from the perpendicular, there is a risk the knife tip may bind or potentially snap. A knife with means to engage one of the fulcrums such as a notch, would prevent the knife from being moved backwards and forwards in a slicing motion, while engaged with a fulcrum.